1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer-based technique for organizing media, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for organizing digital media based on face recognition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital cameras have gained popularity in recent in years, in part due to the flexibility offered by electronic image storage. By storing digital photos on a personal computer, laptop, a network accessible server, etc., users are able to organize, edit, and share their images. Also, as compared to film-based photography, the user of a digital camera can typically assess the quality of a photo immediately, without spending time and money on a set of prints containing at least some low quality images. In view of the widespread transition from analog to digital photos, service providers and vendors have introduced a variety of products, web-based services, and software tools, including processing software tools for editing digital photos and services for remotely ordering prints and other products (e.g., holiday cards) using the user's picture file(s). File browsing and media viewing software typically allows users to organize and view their photos in electronic Albums, for example organized in folders based on dates (e.g., October 2003) and events (e.g., Ski Trip—January 2002). Considering that the average user has hundreds of photos, such tools offer a convenient way to organize and retrieve photos.
Despite these existing products and services, the inventors of this application has found that the need exists for more-advanced techniques and software tools for conveniently and quickly organizing digital photos.